Running in the dark.........

I got to do something that I have been wanting to try the other morning, it was something that I figured out I had to do when I started thinking about running the Superior 50 and that was running in the dark on a trail.

Granted it was only for about 1/2 hour or so and it was in Hyland (a park I know fairly well) but it was an interesting thing to experience for the first time. I have often run in the dark on the bike paths but between cars, street lights and the moon, I can usually see the path well enough to run and there aren't that many things to worry about on the path such as rocks and roots just the occasional crack in the path. This was different, I got to see how my lights would work and I know that I will need an upgrade to attempt anything longer or in an unknown event. Am I ready for an overnight of running, no way.

As I was running along, I got to thinking about the Surf the Murph and what time it starts and when do we switch time. So I checked and we change time this fall, per WikiAnswers on the first Sunday in November which means that the Surf the Murph 50k will probably start in the dark. I ran there last Sunday and got started around 7:30, I thought with plenty of morning daylight and it seemed so when I started out but when I got back to the hill marked between 7 and 6, I had a hard time seeing and thought to myself that I should've brought a light. Yes it was raining, which made it far tougher to see. So add a month, start a 1/2 hour earlier and we will be in the dark or at best early morning light. Shouldn't last too long but it will be an interesting start. The good news is that I have been running a bit in Murphy so if it is dark I might recognize where I am and I am sure I will at the back of the pack so others will light the course.

One other thing that I figured out as I was running along was that the running trails would be available again during the week. Normally during the fall/winter/spring darkness we experience here in Minnesota I only run on weekends as it's dark in the morning or after work.. So I now have something to look forward to as darkness approaches, the trails are open............